2009 Blogs

Back from Alaska. Back to school!

09/08/2009

Hey everyone! I am back from Alaska- it was crazy! I packed warm clothing assuming it would be cold and I was breaking sweat the whole time! A few days it was chilly but still a little hot for Alaska. Or maybe I was just used to our unusually cold summer we had been having. Now that I am back which I am so glad to be back home... I have so much to catch up on. I did not realized I could miss so much during the first week of classes but I was totally lost because I missed so much. Derrick has been helping me with notes and work that would need to be turned in when I returned to classes so I wouldn't get behind but it was very overwhelming! Especially being the first week of classes... not knowing anything... and trying to do the homework withing having anything to base my answers on besides information from the book (which still is usually never enough). Instructors always have different styles of teaching and ways of using the book- so it really helped having a study buddy. Derrick (my fiance) is in the same major I am in so we are pretty lucky to have each other to fall back on when we need help with homework or do not understand a particular section we are working with. It's always nice to know someone in your class as well. I am sure everyone could agree with me on this one.  I am going to have to save pictures of Alaska for another blog later this week. I am rather limited on time and want to make sure my homework is completed before I take off on any more blogs.  Just a few things about my trip before I shut this off for the evening. I went on an Alaskan cruise called the Norwegian Star - Norwegian Cruise Lines is one of the best cruise lines- although this one is the only one I have experienced so I cannot count for them all but I cannot wait to try out the different cruise lines and ships. My brother, his wife, myself, and my mom spent 4 days in Seattle, Washington before the cruise, and then 7 whole days on the ship. We had a nice suite on the 11th floor of the boat- 2 bathrooms, living room, master bedroom, another little bedroom, and our own balcony (which I spend a lot of time sitting out on).  There of course were a lot of things I would have changed - and then would have had a better time but overall it was pretty good. We ate for free on the boat almost all we could eat of course- and room service! We stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Alaska, then Prince Rupert, Canada. We basically sailed the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean along Canada and Alaska- moving in to port on the days we had stopped. We had a few hours time to go off on our own and do things in Alaska- it was pretty neat. We really didn't do a whole lot because everything was very expensive which was pretty much the only con the whole trip which it why I would like to see what the other cruise lines may have to offer that you do not have to pay a lot extra for. I took a total of about 6000 pictures of course a lot of those were multiples and I am in process of narrowing those down.  I am extremely happy to be home- two whole weeks were just too long to vacation. I know a lot of people do not get vacations for two weeks... or vacations at all but just because someone gets the option of a two week vacation doesn't mean they should take the whole two weeks. I will be recovering from this for about another week or so and never taking a two week vacation like that again- seven days on a boat was enough for me!

Thanks for reading! Hope everyone had a good first week of class and keep up all the hard work for a very successful semester!

Amanda